How to get where you’re going — and steer clear of road rage — this holiday season
It’s going to a be a wet Christmas week in Sacramento and a white one in the Sierras. But expect some blue skies. Travelers, whether by car, train or plane, should be able to arrive safely and on time at Aunt Amanda’s where we hope she will be serving pecan pie a la mode after dinner.
That said, more people will crowd onto highways and into airport terminals than ever this holiday season. It will lead to frayed nerves. Here are some tips and a few warnings to help get you through:
Rain in valley, snow in Sierra
Light rains will show up Saturday in the Sacramento Valley and stick around until at least Christmas Day. It’ll be white but pleasant on Christmas in Tahoe. Snowfall will be heaviest in the mountains this Sunday. Bring tire chains.
You’ve got Waze to guide you. You’ve got Google Maps. But Caltrans’ QuickMap is another good source to check before heading out. Click on the camera icons and get a real-time view of what the traffic and weather are like there now.
That will allow you to ....
... just say no to road rage
It’s often not jolly on the road, especially around Christmas when drivers find themselves at dead stop for a block on Arden Way just to get into the shopping mall parking lot where there may or may not be a parking spot. (Pro tip: It may be best to just go to the far ends of any parking lot.)
Zebra online insurance company just put out a sobering pre-Christmas statistic: 82% of U.S. drivers admit losing their temper and getting aggressive on the road with other drivers in the past year.
AAA suggests going into Zen mode: “The other driver may just be having a really bad day. Assume that it is not personal.”
Keep in mind, if you get charged with aggressive or reckless driving, your insurance could go up $1,000 as a result. That’s a large lump of Christmas coal.
And then there’s this: Zebra says 46 percent of the drivers they surveyed said they kept some sort of weapon in their car for protection. Seven percent of those were guns.
As for the musical chairs game in shopping mall parking lots, New York consumer advocate Terry Grosselfinger gave USA Today’s local newspaper readers this advice: “It’s only a parking space, folks. It’s not like you’re the trying to get the last seat on a lifeboat on the Titanic.”
Prepare for the 12 arguments of Xmas
The road isn’t the only place tempers boil during the holidays. A survey last month by SpotHero, a parking app company, and OnePoll, found people typically get into 12 arguments during the holidays, sometimes with family members, sometimes with store clerks or airport employees, and sometimes with strangers.
The survey found people will worry on average four times during the holiday that they are going to be late somewhere. And they will become aware eight times that they are stressed out about something.
Aside from dealing with heavy traffic and worrying about being late, the survey found that one of the biggest stress causes is an over-taxed brain on travel days. The result: We forget or lose something and have to go searching for it.
The advice: Plan ahead. Talk with loved ones about timing and about expectations.
Texting to resolve air travel debates
The holiday season means more people carrying more packages onto packed airplanes with minimal overhead storage.
One of the things traveling families argue over: What are you allowed to bring through the federal security checkpoint onto your flight? Part of the problem is the Transportation Security Administration continually changes its rules and practices, so you’re never sure what to expect.
TSA says you can send questions toits Twitter and Facebook accounts. It also has answers to some basic questions at its website.
One piece of TSA advice is more of a plea: Don’t wrap your gifts, if you can avoid it. It’s not a rule, but bringing a wrapped gift prompts extra screening, and TSA reserves the right to unwrap the present.
SuperShuttle is no more
SuperShuttle, the original rideshare service with the bright blue-and -yellow vans, is going out of business next week after nearly 40 years of ferrying riders to and from airports.
Service, in fact, stopped at Sacramento International Airport earlier this month. The company cited “financial losses and the current state of the ongoing ground transportation landscape,” according to airport officials.
You’ve still got Uber, Lyft and taxis, though.
If you choose to drive and park at the airport, check the airport’s website before you go for real-time parking lot information. The economy lot at Sacramento International Airport is always the first lot to fill up during the holidays. The airport recently added a second, smaller economy lot on the west side, next to the cellphone waiting lot.
Boeing 737 Max still grounded
Boeing 737 Max jets have been grounded most of the year since two catastrophic crashes killed more than 300 people. Now, Boeing has announced it will indefinitely cancel production of new 737 Max jets, starting in January.
That could impact Sacramento air travelers who rely on Southwest Airlines, one of the few domestic airlines that uses the 737 Max. Southwest still plans to purchase a number of new 737 Max jets in the next few years, when the jet is deemed safe.
“Our focus remains on safely returning the MAX to service,” spokesman Chris Mainz said in an email to The Bee. “It’s too soon to speculate how and to what extent the suspension of production in January may impact our plans moving forward.”
Meanwhile, on Thursday, FlyersRights.org announced it has filed a federal lawsuit “seeking release of the Boeing’s proposed changes to the 737 MAX submitted to the Federal Aviation Administration.” The group’s goal is to get those documents in the hands of independent analysts “in order to be able to evaluate whether the 737 Max is safe to fly.”
Capitol Corridor trains half price
People who ride the Capitol Corridor trains between Sacramento and the Bay Area often talk about how stress-free the travel is. But it is not cheap, especially if you are a family.
During Christmas, the rail service is offering one of its better deals: If you buy one full-priced ticket, you can buy up to five more tickets at half price. That deal is good through New Year’s Day.
Tickets are available at the Capitol Corridor website.
Stress relief ahead
If all this holiday talk leaves you even more stressed, next year you can consider doing what several million Americans do during the holidays: Head to a happy place.
According to AAA, late December sees a spike in travel to warm-weather destinations and theme parks. This year’s top five in order:
Orlando, home of Disney World; Anaheim, home of Disneyland; Honolulu, home of Waikiki Beach; Maui, home of cool sea turtles; and Las Vegas, home of anything and everything.
This story was originally published December 20, 2019 at 5:00 AM.